Tigers 5, Dodgers 4

tony, any news on furcal? where is his frame of mind at right now do you think? there is no chance of surgery right? also, so you think his injury has greatly effected the dodgers chacnes of resigning him?

I can almost promise you there will be no news on Furcal until we get back home on Friday. Until then, just find a hobby or something.

The Vero Beach Curse lays another on McCourt's Dodgers. This team looks pathetic. I mean to have to start Danny Ardoin, Luis Maza, and Angel Berroa--come on, you're talking last place happening real soon. VB Curse is hitting hard.

Does anyone comment on this blog without some sort of schtick? These bits are really getting old.

Ain't no schtick TJ2--There was the Curse of the Bambino, the Billy Goat Curse, and now the Vero Beach Curse. There is nothing you can do about it, unless you can get McCourt to sell the team. I know it's tough, but the worst is yet to come...

ethier? heheheh

Games like this validate my handle.

Tony... not being a smart-alec here, I'd really like to know what your opinion is on this; why is it on Kent's off days, the Luis Maza experiment at second base continues, when:

a) Delwyn Young played the position during Spring Training and did pretty well there, and...

b) Andy LaRoche was just called up to be the right-side/3B utility relief man???

Both of these players are such an upgrade, especially at the plate where this team needs the most help right now. Is Torre that blind to the fact Maza isn't hitting the ball???

Also, IMO, it's time to rest Juan Pierre in favor of Delwyn Young. Pierre's OBP suffers the need at the top of the lineup, where it is imperative a man gets on base in order to use speed in the first place. The adage, "you can't steal first base" has never rung more true with Pierre.

While Delwyn Young won't win any stolen base awards, he will steal his share and, will have a much higher OBP than Pierre will ever dream of. Young will hit the power alleys and drive in more runs later in the games and will do a much better impersonation of Rafael Furcal at the plate than that of a Juan Pierre can ever try to do.

I'm only trying to infuse more offense into this ballclub of ours, and it only takes the guts to sit the big bucks of Pierre for a couple of weeks to see what Delwyn Young can really do for the Dodgers. How much worse can it get anyway at this point really?

I'm just frustrated to watch my beloved team being so mismanaged the way they are. Thank you for letting me vent Tony. I hope it gets better before it gets worse.

Any thoughts on your end as to how this team can improve itself?

As for Maza, I think Joe just wants to keep everybody as involved as possible, which is what you kind of have to do in the National League. As far as Pierre/Young, Joe says he needs a Pierre-type player with speed at the top, and Pierre is the only Pierre-type player on the team right now with Furcal on the DL.

If Maza needs to be involved, then the same case can be made for LaRoche and Young.

It's pretty clear that Maza has no long term future with this team. The same might also be said for LaRoche and Young, but it's not nearly as certain as it is for Maza.

It's always possible that the Dodgers will suddenly begin winning and make a run at the division. However, they are not going to do so with players like Maza. For that to happen they will need their young players to step up and begin to perform at a level that justifies their "potential". LaRoche and Young are two of those young players. Besides, even if the Dodgers fall short this season, it is imperative that they begin to get a handle on their strengths and weaknesses going into next season. That includes seeing what there young players are actually capable of. If that's the case, then the young players can no longer sit.

If he can handle second base, LaRoche should be Kent's primary relief. In the event that Kent should show signs of permanent decline and/or the Dodgers fall further out of the race, then full-time duty at 2B might be in order for LaRoche.

Juan Pierre's inability to get on base consistently greatly diminishes his primary asset, speed. Furthermore, although he is still fast, Pierre does not possess the same speed he had five years ago. I would prefer to gamble, and allow Young to play everyday. It may well be that his extra base power would prove more valuable than Pierre's speed. Besides, in a month or so Andruw Jones will probably return, and then the question will arise as to whether or not Pierre should be taking playing time away from Ethier or Kemp.

I still think the Dodgers should be shopping Pierre. You can't tell me that there isn't a team somewhere that would consider him an asset, provided that the Dodgers were willing to pick up a large chunk of his remaining 3.5 years. Getting Pierre out of the picture would not only relieve the Dodgers of a weak hitting, weak throwing, powerless outfielder, but it would remove one the primary roadblocks in the development of Kemp and Ethier.

Whether or not they remain in the race for the division, the Dodgers need to be thinking seriously about next year. Kent will be gone, Nomar will be gone, Lowe will likely be gone, the Dodgers will probably pay Penny $2 million in lieu of picking up the option year on his contact, there is a strong chance that Furcal's back woes will preclude any chance that the Dodgers will attempt to re-sign him, Loaiza will no longer be on the payroll and the Dodgers will know that they only have to pay Schmidt for one more year. That's a lot of money freed up, and all the more reason for them to find out this year what youngsters are keepers, and what holes can/should be filled via free agency and/or trades.

Also, come the trading deadline next month, it may well be that the Dodgers become sellers. Not a bad time to see whether or not they can move players like Pierre, Proctor, Park, Sweeney, etc. Even packaging players like LaRoche and Young could sweeten a deal, providing that value is received in return.